The expectations heaped upon the shoulders of Rory McIlroy have been ludicrous but they are a product of his own creation. The fact that he had such an incredible 2012 PGA Tourseason resulted in completely unrealistic expectations for this year’s campaign. Yes, he did struggle at times this year, but all Tour pros go through ups and downs. McIlroy has had a much better season than people think – and he may just be rounding into form at the perfect time.

The way that people talk about the Ulsterman, you would think that he missed the cut in most of the events he entered this year. While he did fail to make it to the weekend a few times (so did Tiger Woods, I might add), he has played well for much of the season. He’s just had some difficulty stringing together four solid rounds in one tournament.

McIlroy has seven top 25 finishes this year, including five top 10 results and a solo second. Heading into this week’s Deutsche Bank Championship he is ranked 49th in the FedEx Cup standings and fourth in the world. Those are hardly numbers to sneeze at. However, people love to talk about the negatives much more than the positives. That is why we have heard so much about the downfall of McIlroy this year.

He is the defending champion at TPC Boston and picked up a tie for 20th at The Barclays last week. He is ranked inside of the top 20 in scoring average (19th) at 69.997 and is 10th in par breakers. He has struggled at times with driving accuracy and on the greens, but he has the ability to turn it on at the drop of a hat.

Don’t sleep on McIlroy this week. He’s almost a guarantee for a top 25 finish and I wouldn’t bat an eye if he finished in the top 10. This week could be the springboard he needs to make some real noise during the rest of the playoffs.

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